


Say Yes to the Mess

by dubutokki



Series: Hope we always feel like home [2]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - College/University, Courting Rituals, M/M, Multi, Polyamory, sort of Lucas-centric
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-11
Updated: 2018-11-11
Packaged: 2019-08-22 00:40:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16587407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dubutokki/pseuds/dubutokki
Summary: Lucas decides to finally court Renjun. The rest of the pack helps the big puppy get his man.





	Say Yes to the Mess

**Author's Note:**

> The sequel to my other fic Auction. Can actually be read as a stand-alone, basic info are:  
> \- the Dreamies + Lucas are in a subpack of NCT, Lucas and Mark as co-head alphas  
> \- Markhyuck and Nomin are already mated  
> \- no heats and ruts; red eyes- alpha, blue eyes- beta, golden eyes- omega
> 
> Also, since it might be a point of confusion, I have this headcanon that Renjun calls Lucas by his Mandarin name (Xuxi) and Lucas in turn calls Renjun by his Cantonese name (which, for this fic at least, is Yanjun).
> 
> Not beta'ed, done for fun. I hope you enjoy! :)

“Did you really have to send the SOS signal at eight in the morning on a fucking Saturday?!” asks Mark, as he drags a hand through his hair, sitting down in front of Lucas. By the counter of the café, Jeno was pocketing his car keys while he recited his and Mark’s orders to the cashier. Lucas raised an eyebrow as he sipped his coffee. 

“You dragged him along? What’d that do for your self-esteem?” 

Mark glared. “I had to bring him along because, first, I lost in rock-paper-scissors with Hyuck and he has the car for the whole day so I needed a ride, and second, we all know that whatever hare-brained idea you’re scheming right now, we need Jeno’s, and by extension Nana’s, braincells for it to work. And my self-esteem is at a record low, no fucking thanks to you might I add, having to sit next to somebody who looks like he’s going to be walking on a fucking runway at a weekend morning while I look like I just dug myself out of the grave.” 

“Who’s being dug out of a grave? Are we planning to summon a demon or something?” asked Jeno as he put down their drinks. Mark eagerly snatched his and took a big gulp, while Lucas grinned at Jeno and fist-bumped him in greeting. 

“You know how Mark sounds so much like Donghyuckie except with a whole lot more cursing when he’s grumpy and sleepy? Ahhh, we love domesticity.” Jeno laughs while Mark shoots the finger at Lucas, still gulping his coffee. 

“Shut up asshole and just tell us why we’re here,” hissed Mark, as he set down his drink. He and Jeno both raised an eyebrow at the sudden change in demeanor in Lucas, who went from laughing to uncharacteristically shy. 

“Well, you see, I need your help. I’m… planning on courting Renjun,” Lucas mumbles shyly. Mark and Jeno both visibly brighten at his statement. 

“Oh thank heavens, finally! What do you need help with then?” Mark asks. Lucas winced at Mark’s question. 

“That’s the thing. I need help with everything! I don’t know how to court!” 

Jeno sends him a questioning stare. “What do you mean you don’t know how to court, Hyung? We’ve been taught that since we were kids. You give the person three things to show your worth: food, shelter, and something that shows how much the person means to you.” 

“Yes, of course I know that!” Lucas exclaims, flapping his arms around wildly. “The problem is I don’t have any clue at all what to give to him! At this rate, I’m going to be rejected even before I get past the first stage!” 

Mark rolls his eyes. “Okay, okay, we get it, we’ve been there. You do know that traditionally, the food has to be personally made, right?” 

Lucas stares at him dully. “Yes, and that’s another problem. I might kill Renjun accidentally just because I’m courting him. Don’t you remember why Kun-ge banned me from the kitchen?” he deadpans to other two boys, who shudder at the memory. 

“Yeah, you’re right. Renjun might need a miracle to survive the first stage of courtship.” 

“Wait... That’s it! For the first stage, we’ll need a miracle.” Mark and Lucas turn to Jeno, who was looking at Mark weirdly. 

“And where should we get the miracle?” Mark asks, raising an eyebrow. 

“Let’s be real here Mark-hyung, you two are about the same level of disaster in the kitchen. So,” Jeno continues despite the squawk of protest from the two. “Who was responsible for Donghyuck being able to survive your cooking?” 

“… Ohhhhhh. I guess we’re paying Taeyong-hyung a visit then.” 

  
\-----  


“Well, I can’t say I wasn’t dreading this day, but then again at least you’re making a move,” sighs Taeyong as he takes out bowls and pots for the cooking lesson. 

Yuta scoffs. “You won’t be in this situation if you weren’t dumb enough to bet against Kun, you know,” he calls out from the living room where he was watching a show, cuddled up with their two dogs. Lucas, who was sitting at the counter, stared in disbelief at Taeyong. 

“Hyung, you bet against Kun-ge?!?!” 

“And lost spectacularly, but that’s not the point and we’re not talking about this anymore. Lucas, get up from there and wear an apron. Mark, stop dawdling by the door and come here, you’re also doing this lesson.” 

“But whyyy,” Mark whines. “I’m already mated to Hyuck, I don’t need to go through this again.” 

Taeyong raised an eyebrow at Mark. “Yeah? Last I heard you almost burned your kitchen again last week. Johnny demanded you join before you accidentally kill his precious baby Hyuckie in a fire.” Mark grins sheepishly at that. “Get in here and put on an apron, you know the drill. Lucas, wash your hands. Also, to be clear, I’m just going to teach you the basics. Renjun likes Chinese food, so Kun has already volunteered to teach you Injun’s favorite dish. I’ll teach you just enough so that Kun’s kitchen hopefully won’t get destroyed.” 

“At the expense of your own precious kitchen. That’ll teach you not to make any bets with Kun, you know nobody wins a bet against him,” Yuta snickers. Taeyong pouts at his mate. 

“You’re having way too much fun, Yukkuri.” 

Yuta grins back at him, shooting a wink at Mark and Lucas. “But of course. This reminds me of the time you helped Johnny with his courtships.” 

Lucas paused in tying Mark’s apron. “Hyung, you also helped Johnny-hyung? Confident, I-can-do-everything Johnny-hyung???” 

Both Taeyong and Yuta snorted at the description of their same-aged friend. “You do know that Johnny is the biggest dork, right? And yes, I helped him with Ten. Helped him with Kun too, because Ten is useless,” Taeyong said, rolling his eyes. “Anyway! Let’s start, I’ll be teaching you basic knife usage today. First, get one slicing knife each. The proper way to hold the knife is- MARK! LUCAS! STOP SWORDFIGHTING WITH THE KNIVES!!!” 

  
\-----  


“Hei, are you sure you still want to do the braised pork with vermicelli noodles?” Kun says, as he watches Lucas scrub the pans after the 6th failed attempt on cooking Renjun’s favorite dish. “We can always do the the Hui Baozhen dumplings, it’s a bit easier. Renjun likes them a lot too anyways.” 

Lucas scrubs a bit harder at the pan, gritting his teeth in frustration at his inability. “I’m sure, ge. The first thing Yanjun did when he met me was ask what my favorite food was and taught himself how to do it. This is the least I can do for him. Especially if I want to prove myself to him.” 

Kun sighed and smiled to himself, mentally preparing to buy a new set of pots and pans. He really didn’t think that Lucas needed to prove himself that much to Renjun. He’s pretty sure Renjun will accept anything Lucas makes, unlike Ten who demanded to make the food spicier three times, but he knows the feeling of needing to prove himself to the person you’re courting. 

“Okay then Cas, come here and leave that for a while. We’ll deal with those later; I don’t think that’s going to come off soon anyway. I’ll make sure you’re able to make at least a decent braised pork with vermicelli noodles by tomorrow.” 

Johnny later comes home to later to a mountain of dishes and cooking ware to be washed (or disposed of, he notices, wincing), his two mates teasing each other about how demanding and specific they were about the food they wanted during their own courtships, and a blushing Lucas being teased by said two mates about really going the extra mile for Renjun. He smiles at the scene, before turning and walking to their bedroom, intent on getting a shower. He’s definitely not going in the kitchen and risking being teased by Ten and Kun for being a disaster in cooking like a certain current student is. 

\-----

 **FROM:** Xuxi

 **TO:** Me

_“Yanjunnie! Wait for me by the cafeteria entrance please, Kun-ge asked me to give something to you. I’ll drop it off real quick before I go to the court. And don’t buy lunch yet!”_

Renjun raises an eyebrow at the weird text he received from Lucas. In front of him, Donghyuck and Jaemin were still bickering about their topic from their last class. The three of them had the same class, and are now walking towards the campus cafeteria for lunch. As soon as they reached the entrance, he sent a quick text to Lucas informing him that he was already there before calling the attention of the bickering duo. 

“Hey Nana, Hyuckie, go ahead and save a seat for me yeah? Xuxi said to wait for him here, seems like Kun-ge has something to give to me.” 

Jaemin and Donghyuck looked equally confused at the unusual event, but shrugged and agreed. “Want us to buy you lunch? You can just pay later at the table,” Jaemin asks Renjun, but Renjun shook his head. 

“Nah, don’t bother. Xuxi also said not to buy lunch.” 

Donghyuck pouted. “If Kun-hyung made you lunch I’m going to be so jealous.” Renjun rolls his eyes. 

“You act like I don’t share any lunch Kun-ge makes,” he says, waving at the two entering the cafeteria. He leaned on the wall and took out his phone, playing a game to pass the time. Barely 5 minutes passed however, when Lucas stopped in front of him, panting. 

“Woah, Xuxi, catch your breath. What’s the rush?” asked Renjun, blinking. Lucas just took a deep breath, gave him a big grin, and handed him a lunch box. 

“For you, I hope you like it. Or at least find it acceptable. Enjoy your lunch Yanjunnie!” Lucas said in one breath, immediately running away after having handed over the lunchbox. Renjun could only give his disappearing figure a dumbfounded stare, before shrugging and entering the cafeteria. He immediately located Donghyuck and Jaemin, who were waiting for him before starting to eat, and walked over to the table. 

“What did Lucas want? Did Kun-hyung make lunch for you?” asked Donghyuck as they started to eat. Renjun shrugged, still a bit preoccupied with Lucas’ weird behavior, and opened his lunchbox to find his favorite Chinese dish. Delighted, he immediately dug in, eyes widening as he processed the slight difference in taste from Kun’s usual cooking and the uneven way the pork was cut, like it was cut by someone not used to holding a knife. He recalled how weird Lucas’ was acting earlier, and the band-aids he saw on Lucas’ fingers when he was handing over the lunchbox. And as he realized what the lunchbox meant, he felt happiness spread throughout his whole body. He felt like he was on cloud nine, like he was floating on air, because finally this was happening. 

“-junnie? Hello? Did you hear what I said? I said can I have some of the lunch Kun-hyung gave you.” 

Renjun is snapped from his daze at Jaemin’s voice, looking back up at the two who were staring at his blushing face confusedly. He gave them a soft, bright grin. 

“I’m sorry Nana, not today. Kun-ge didn’t make this. Xuxi did.” 

And as Donghyuck and Jaemin realized what is happening and started squealing, Renjun quietly continued to eat his lunch with a smile on his face. He’s so excited for the following days. He can’t wait. 

**Author's Note:**

> So, uhh, hi? Hope you like word vomit part 2. I've wanted to do something for luren (LUREN NATION RISE), and since I wanted to expound more on the courtship ritual mentioned in Auction, I thought they would be the perfect ship to show it. 
> 
> Updates will be erratic since real life keeps getting in the way, but I'll try to get this done by Christmas. Thanks for liking Auction and for giving this one a chance! ^^


End file.
